The Simpsons’ Ned Flanders has a very peculiar speech pattern in which he adds some phrases to his sentences, sometimes in the middle of a word, and while this is one of his most well-known quirks, the origin of it is far from funny. The Simpsons had its beginning as a series of animated shorts in The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987, and after three seasons it was developed into a half-hour prime time show, making its official debut on Fox in 1989. Since then, The Simpsons has become the longest-running animated American series and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon, with over 30 seasons and counting.
The Simpsons follows the adventures of the title family in the fictional town of Springfield, along with those of some of their closest friends and a couple of enemies as well, as are Mr. Burns and Sideshow Bob. One character who has become very popular among viewers (much to Homer’s dismay) is the Simpsons’ neighbor, Ned Flanders (voiced by Harry Shearer), an extremely religious and cheery family man with a couple of dark secrets of his own.
Ned stands out not only from being the opposite of Homer in many ways but because his way of talking is very different from that of the rest of Springfield. Ned has become famous for adding phrases like “diddly”, “doodly”, and other nonsense to his sentences, with one of the most memorable ones being “hi-diddly-ho, neighborino”. As funny as this can be, The Simpsons decided not to give Ned’s speech pattern an equally funny backstory, and instead, it’s all about how Ned was raised, the feelings he built up during his childhood, and a very strange type of therapy he was subjected to.
In season 8’s episode “Hurricane Neddy”, after the Flanders’ home was destroyed by a hurricane, Ned snapped after his friends and neighbors did their best to rebuild his house, and he was sent to an asylum. There, he discovered the source of his sudden rage, and through that the origin of “diddly” “doodly” and more was revealed. As it turns out, Ned’s parents were “Freaky Beatniks” who didn’t believe in discipline, which resulted in a very young Ned constantly misbehaving and showing uncontrollable rage. Ned was put through a therapy called the University of Minnesota Spankalogical Protocol, which was all about continuous spanking for 18 months. This strange therapy corrected Ned’s behavior, but it also left him unable to express his anger, which he then channeled in nonsensical jabbering, which increases when he’s close to losing his temper.
However, it’s worth noting that his relatives (though not his children and wife) also share this trait, except for one: Lord Thistlewick Flanders, who was pressured by Ned to talk the same way as the rest. Taking the aforementioned therapy into account, Ned’s speech pattern might not be a family thing as initially implied, and instead could be a trait that his relatives catch whenever they are with Ned. Not everything is fun and laughter in the world of The Simpsons, and there are some dark stories all over Springfield – you just have to pay close attention.